Tanker inspection
Introduction
Storage tanks are structures made of various materials, generally cylindrical in shape, that are used to store and/or preserve liquids or gases at a certain pressure. Storage tanks are usually used to store liquids, and are widely used in the gas, petroleum, and chemical industries, and mainly their most notable use is in refineries due to their requirements for storage, whether temporary or prolonged; of the products and by-products obtained from its activities.[1].
These containers or tanks are intended to store and preserve liquids (water, oil, food, beverages or fuels), solids (raw materials from the food industry) and gases under pressure, among others, which is why in certain technical media they are also known as pressurized storage tanks.[2].
Features and production standards
Production standards
Due to their size, they are usually designed to contain the liquid at a pressure slightly higher than atmospheric. The standards used by the oil industry originate from the API standard, with API code 650[3] mainly used for new tanks and covering aspects such as materials, design, process and manufacturing steps, and testing, while API code 653[4] is used for the reconstruction or modification of previously used tanks.
Characteristics
The diversity of stored products that is contemplated in the application of the construction code, API[3] and related codes describes construction aspects such as:
• - Security.
• - Prevention of evaporation of liquids with high evaporation.
• - Vapor pressure of the contained liquids.
• - Retention, maintenance and final disposal of the tank.
• - Tank operation.
• - Fire protection and prevention devices.
• - Internal overpressure control valves.
• - Access and escape of personnel from the tank.
• - Access and exhaust from and to the roof of the tank for inspection.
• - Fall protection for operation and maintenance personnel.
• - Electrical protection and lighting systems.